


Rottenella's Revenge

by 18lzytwner



Series: LazyTown Third Series [4]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-12
Updated: 2012-04-12
Packaged: 2019-06-29 22:13:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 10,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15738360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/18lzytwner/pseuds/18lzytwner
Summary: Robbie thought he shut Rottenella down. He thought that it was over. He thought wrong.Again the age difference is not substantial.





	1. Chapter 1

Another typical sunny day appeared in LazyTown with the birds waking everyone up.  Sportacus, who had been staying at the former Mayor’s house, jumped out of bed with his usual vigor but quickly found himself on the floor as he had removed his legs the night before.

          “Ouch” was followed by some swear words in his native tongue.

          “I heard that,” Stephanie said from her bed which was on the opposite side of the room.  Milford and Bessie converted the guest room where Stephanie had been staying into more of a hotel setup with two beds.  They shared a closet and a couple of dressers and the two had made things work.

          “Good morning,” he plastered a smile on his face while he reached for his legs and went about putting them on.

          “It was until you made the air blue.  You forget that I know what those words mean,” the pink one teased.

          “I didn’t forget I taught you, it was just a bad lapse in judgment.  After being in this condition for six months you would think I would learn,” the hero smirked.  In their months together of inactivity the blue suited elf had taught her the language of his people and now they used it like code.

          “Well sometimes people forget things.  Makes us human or in your case super human,” she smiled and exited bed to find him standing up on his newest set of feet.

          “Above average human,” he corrected.

          “I think super fits here.  You save the day and do it with two feet not your own,” Stephanie said.

          “I haven’t saved the day in six months, longer if you count the fact that I was unable to save poor Mrs. McDonnell,” the hero’s mood soured quickly and the pink one grabbed his hand.

          “You did all you could as you always do.  I love you for it and so does this town,” she pulled him down to her level and placed a kiss on his lips.

          “I needed that,” he smiled.

          “Well if it was up to me, we’d spend all day inside but I think your therapist would have a problem with that,” the pink one teased.

          “I’d miss my appointment and we’d get caught by your Uncle.  I know it was a big decision to move back in here but now…” he winked.

          “I know, I know but when he and Bessie go on their honeymoon, we’ll have the house to ourselves,” she reminded him.

          “And we can lock the doors,” he chuckled before scooping her up in his still very muscular arms and kissing her soundly.  Despite his lack of legs the hero constantly worked out in order to make himself stronger to compensate for his missing appendages.  Robbie promised to have the best ones yet within the next week and needless to say all three of them were anxious to see how they’d work.

          “Ding Dong,” went the front doorbell and the two immediately came up for air.

          “Who is that do you wonder?”  Stephanie asked as he set her down.

          “Why don’t we let your Uncle get it while we get dressed?  I have an hour before my appointment,” he reminded her.

          “Right,” she nodded and the two quickly went off to fight over the shower.  Meanwhile, Milford went to the front door to find that a package had been delivered.  He thought it odd someone would leave an unaddressed package but he shrugged and brought it inside.


	2. Chapter 2

After his therapy appointment, Sportacus and Stephanie headed back to the Mayor’s house for brunch.  They had skipped breakfast, something that they wouldn’t normally do, and now with the appointment ending around ten, their stomachs were rumbling.

          “I wish I had remembered to set the alarm,” Stephanie said.

          “Well we got there on time.  That’s the most important thing,” Sportacus smiled.

          “True but I could have grabbed a Pop-Tart or something,” the pink one pointed out.

          “Not the healthiest thing for breakfast,” the hero said.

          “Fruit filling, that’s good enough,” she teased.

          “The day fruit filling is a good substitute for sports candy, I’ll be out of business,” Sportacus chuckled as they reached the front door.  The pink one put her key into the lock and turned it.  Before she got the chance to open the door the house exploded.

          Ziggy heard the crystal going off before he heard the sirens.  He took off running and he was soon joined by fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances.  One of the police cars slowed and he jumped onto it, his feet on the running boards, his hands holding onto the gumballs on top of the car.  The assisting officer then put his petal to the metal and sped off to the site of the fire which people around the neighborhood could now smell.

          The swarming emergency vehicles and the fire brought neighbors out of their homes and the scene was quickly controlled by Fire Chief Gallivan.  He had the police keep people back and commanded the teams of fire fighters as they battled the blaze.

          “Sir!  You have to come see this!”  One of his men came up to him and shouted over the din caused by people on the scene.  Gallivan quickly followed the fire fighter over to an ambulance that was waiting to head for FunTown.  Inside it was Sportacus and Stephanie.  The hero was lying on the stretcher and she was lying on the bench next to him, both were being attended to by the paramedics.

          “We have to roll!”  The medic working on Stephanie’s burns shouted.

          “What happened?”  Gallivan asked Stephanie, ignoring him.

          “I put the key in the lock and the next thing I know, Sportacus is on top of me and there are pieces of the house flying all over the place.  Where is my Uncle?” the pink one wanted to know.  She hadn’t had a chance to speak with him before they rushed out of the house.

          “We’ll find him,” the Chief said before turning to the medic, “Get them to the hospital on the double,” he ordered.  With that the doors were closed and the ambulance raced off.  Ziggy approached the Chief and asked,

          “Who was in the ambulance?  Are they going to be ok?”

          “Just Sportacus and Stephanie were inside.  As far as their condition, I don’t have a definitive answer.  I want you to find the former Mayor.  Let us all hope he and Bessie were not inside when she went up,” Gallivan said.  Ziggy nodded and raced off to the airship.  He didn’t know where they would be but the best place to start was in the airship.  With any luck the facial recognition software and license plate database that Pixel had installed would be his friend and find the two missing people.

          The Fire Chief then turned and discovered Police Chief Dooright standing over by the line of police officers keeping the public back.  He went over to him and explained what he knew so far.

          “I’d round up the usual suspects on this one,” Gallivan said.

          “The detectives are already on it,” Dooright reassured him.


	3. Chapter 3

The shop door opened and Robbie looked up from his work at the cash register.  He’d just installed a high-tech version of the register and he was still trying to use it.

          “Afternoon detectives.  What can I do you for?”  The former villain asked.  The men stuck out like sore thumbs compared to the rest of his customers, that and he could smell a cop a mile away.

          “I’m Detective Sanchez; this is my partner Detective Peabody.  The Mayor’s house blew up.  We need you to come in,” the one man in the beige trench coat said.

          “The Mayor’s house?  Is everyone ok?” Robbie wanted to know.

          “Hard to say.  Sportacus and Stephanie have been sent to the hospital and the Mayor is still missing along with Miss Busybody.  That’s why we need you to come in,” Detective Sanchez told him.

          “Listen, I thought we’d been over this.  I’ve turned over a new leaf and I have a shop to run.  As much as I’d like to help, I can’t close up,” Robbie said.

          “What happened to your helper?”  Detective Peabody asked.  His adjusted his black trench coat and pulled his pad of paper out of his pocket.

          “She quit; wanted better benefits and hours,” it was a lie but he couldn’t exactly tell him his helper had been an android.

          “Well we still have to have you come in so close up or we’ll be forced to arrest you,” Sanchez said.

          “All right boys, you win.  I’ll close up and go in but I tell you, you’re wasting your time,” the purple wearing man shook his head.

          “Just humor us,” Peabody smiled.  Robbie nodded, shut off the register, and headed for the door to switch over the open sign to say “Be Back Soon”.  The three men then left the store.

          Meanwhile, Ziggy was still combing the streets for the Mayor.  Checking Town Hall would do no good since Milford had retired and Bessie along with him.  The technologically challenged man had never gotten a cell phone and for the strangest reasons Bessie wasn’t answering her cell phone.  There was a reason that she wouldn’t be answering it but Ziggy didn’t want to think like that.         

          “Facial recognition, ninety-seven percent,” the computer announced.

          “Plot course for interception,” Ziggy ordered.

          “Course altered.  Lowering altitude to two hundred feet and reversing engines,” the machine said.

          “Drop ladder when appropriate,” Ziggy told it.

          “Done. Targets directly below,” the computer informed him.

          “Engage autopilot,” Ziggy said.

          “Engaged.  Good luck!”  It said cheerfully as Ziggy jumped onto the ladder and climbed down.  A crowd had gathered beneath the airship and the acting hero smiled as he landed.

          “It’s the great Ziggycus!  What causes you to drop in?”  A man asked.

          “Where is Mr. Meanswell?”  The hero wanted to know, afraid he missed them.

          “Right here.  What’s going on Ziggy?”  Milford asked as he pushed through the crowd.

          “Thank goodness you’re safe!”  Ziggy pulled the former Mayor into a hug.

          “What’s going on?”  Bessie asked.

          “Why haven’t you answered your cell phone?”  Ziggy asked, releasing the Mayor.

          “I had it on vibrate and didn’t realize,” she told him.

          “Sportacus and Stephanie were taken to FunTown Hospital.  Your house was destroyed in an explosion,” Ziggy dropped the bomb and Milford hit the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

“I thought you promised that you wouldn’t be seeing me for a while,” Nurse Rogers said to Stephanie as she examined the pink one’s injuries.  She had cuts, scrapes, splinters, and had just recovered from her temporary hearing impairment from the sounds of the explosion.

          “Well I guess I should learn not to make promises.  We’re incredibly lucky that Sportacus had his legs on.  I just hope my Uncle and Bessie weren’t inside when…” the young woman paused, not wanting to finish the sentence.

          “You were incredibly lucky.  We’ve been trying to reach Robbie about their damaged state but he isn’t answering his phone.  As for your Uncle, still no word,” Rogers explained, taking a look at a rather nasty bruise on the pink one’s knee.

          “My guess is the Chief had Robbie hauled in for questioning.  He certainly has seemed to turn over a new leaf but I guess you never know,” Stephanie sighed.

          “Your Uncle isn’t Mayor anymore and Sportacus isn’t out saving the day yet so why would he go after them?  Especially since he gave Sporatcus his new legs?”  The nurse asked.

          “I have no idea.  I wish I did but I don’t.  Is living the quiet life for once too much to ask?”  Stephanie wondered.

          “You’re dating the town hero, I don’t think quiet life ever comes into the job description,” Rogers pointed out as she bandaged up the last of the cuts and scrapes.  Stephanie nodded and there was a knock on the door.

          “Enter,” Nurse Rogers called as she removed her latex gloves.  Into the room walked a small mousy man of about age fifty wearing a set of coveralls.

          “I’ve been looking at the legs and I think the left one is shot.  That piece of the front door went right into the major circuit box in the calf.  The right one has some minor damage but I think its best left for someone who knows what they are doing to look at,” he said.

          “Thanks anyway Manny.  I appreciate the help,” the nurse said.

          “No problem,” Manny smiled and left the room.

          “I don’t remember seeing him around here.  Is he new?”  Stephanie asked.

          “No, he’s the janitor.  Used to be an electrician before the economy headed south,” the Nurse explained.  The pink one nodded and slowly moved to leave the exam table she sat on.  Her injuries were not nearly as bad as she had expected and it was all thanks to Sportacus.

          “Somehow I knew you were thinking about me,” the hero’s voice brought her from her thoughts and she beamed.  A nurse had brought him in a wheelchair to see the pink one.

          “I hear your legs are out of commission.  How is the rest of you?”  She asked.

          “Robbie’s legs saved both of us.  If they had not been able to react to my muscles as they did I think the two of us would be well holding lilies,” he said, pointing out the various bandages and bruises and surprisingly nothing was broken.  He had come out relatively unharmed considering he took the brunt of the explosion.

          “Sorry about knocking you out.  I just reacted and to be quite honest I wasn’t expecting my legs to work in the way they did,” the blue suited man smiled.

          “Well then it’s a good thing that I have your new legs ready for a tryout back at my place,” Robbie smirked from the doorway.

          “You have no idea how glad I am to see you.  I thought the Chief would have…” Robbie cut Stephanie off in mid-sentence.

          “He did but when I had a solid alibi, they had no choice but to let me go.  I rushed over as fast as I could and you would not believe who I bumped into,” the former villain moved aside and let the former Mayor and Bessie into the room.  The two quickly rushed over and gave Stephanie a huge hug.

          “I was so worried,” she confessed.

          “Ziggy helped find us.  We had gone out to shop.  I have to get back into town and speak to Chief Dooright,” Milford explained.

          “Do they have any suspects?”  Sportacus asked.

          “Not yet but I think the explosion was caused by that unaddressed package that was delivered this morning,” Mr. Meanswell told them.

          “What was the package wrapped in?”  Robbie suddenly asked.

          “Just plain brown paper and it simply said my name,” Milford said.

          “Why do you have that look on your face?”  Stephanie asked the former villain.

          “Can I take these two to my place and get Sportacus fitted for his legs?”  Robbie suddenly changed the subject.

          “I think so.  Let me get the discharge papers,” Nurse Rogers smiled and left the room.

          “Robbie…” Sportacus used his threatening tone.

          “Possible major miscalculation, I’ll explain when we get to my place,” he promised before running to the elevator so he could hail a cab.


	5. Chapter 5

“Robbie, all this cloak and dagger stuff…” Stephanie started as he took the two of them to the side entrance to his lair.

          “Pinky, trust me.  You’ll understand the reason for cloak and dagger,” the former villain said.

          “Let’s get me in some legs and then discuss what is going on.  I’m useless unless I can be standing up,” Sportacus pointed out as Robbie wheeled the wheelchair the hospital let him borrow over to his lab table.

          “Sportakook is right.  Legs first, story later.  Besides I called up a few friends that need to meet us here,” Robbie told them.

          “Friends?”  Stephanie was slightly concerned until she heard the chute open and people climb inside.  Within seconds, Pixel, Amanda, Trixie, and Stingy came out at the bottom and landed in a heap.

          “One at a time people!”  Robbie shook his head.

          “In a bit of a rush when we heard about the Mayor’s house,” Amanda said.

          “Former Mayor but I appreciate everyone rushing over here,” Stephanie quickly enveloped Amanda and Trixie into a huge hug.

          “Good to see you’re still with us Sportacus.  Shouldn’t we be involving Ziggy in all of this?”  Pixel asked while he watched Robbie get the above average hero’s legs on.

          “Ziggy has his hands full keeping Milford safe.  Chief Dooright has ordered both Bessie and Milford into protective custody,” Robbie told them.

          “You know this because…?”  Stingy asked.

          “I was the one who told them to do so when they brought me in,” the former villain said.

          “Ah,” Trixie looked concerned.

          “Do you have a baby-sitter?  This could be awhile,” Robbie turned to Amanda.

          “No worries.  Roxie and Ransom are being baby-slash-dog sat by Pixel’s folks.  They understand the situation,” the young woman smiled.

          “We may need that dog’s nose so keep him close,” Robbie winked.

          “All right, my legs are in place.  Now what seems to be the trouble?”  Sportacus asked as he stood up, allowing his legs to get used to the new feel of his new prosthetics.

          “Beware the Jabberwocky or in this case an android,” Robbie said as he offered everyone a seat in the main room of his lair.

          “Rottenella?”  Pixel asked.

          “The one and the same.  I hung onto her in hopes I could reprogram her.  After the explosion, I asked the detectives who picked me up from the store if we could stop by my house so I could get my parole officer’s info.  My regular guy is out of town for the week and I had to prove that I met with the new guy.  Let me make this clear the new guy, is really a new guy.  Not sure where they dug him up but he claimed to have no record of ever meeting me but I had a signed copy of the paperwork at home that proves I did.  Anyway, I went into the closet to fetch his card of out my coat pocket and much to my surprise, Rottenella was not where I left her,” the purple wearing villain explained.

          “Have you searched the place top to bottom?”  Stephanie asked.

          “Multiple times via my scanning program, there have been no android signatures in the lair.  Even in her supposed shut-down state there would have been something on the scan but there wasn’t,” he said.  

          “Back up a tick.  Are you saying that she got up and walked away?  How is that possible if you shut her off?”  Trixie asked.

          “Artificial Intelligence,” both Pixel and Amanda said at once.

          “Yes.  I created a crude form of it.  She was slowly evolving on her own.  There are ghosts in the machine as it were,” Robbie shook his head.

          “Is she required to follow the three laws?”  Pixel asked.

          “No.  The three laws apply to robots not androids.  She’s like Data on steroids,” the former villain said.

          “Sweet mother,” Amanda couldn’t believe it.

          “Back up.  How is she like data?”  Stingy asked.

          “Star Trek reference,” Stephanie said.

          “You…?” Robbie didn’t finish.

          “Yes, now stay focused.  If Rottenella understands emotions then she must feel betrayed by your last act of shutting her down.  She has somehow overridden the shutdown protocol and now she’s after my Uncle?”  The pink one asked.

          “It was a crude attempt to get me arrested.  I think the ultimate payback will be to either send me back to jail or to kill those that helped me betray her.  I don’t think she’s after your Uncle.  She’s after you,” Robbie told her.


	6. Chapter 6

“Not sure if I should be flattered or afraid.  Why would she come after me?”  Stephanie asked.

          “Because when I heard Sportacus had lost his legs the first person I went to, to see if it was true, was you.  When I saw that look on your face, I knew I had to do something.  Sportacus’ first set of legs were a pair that Rottenella had tried out.  They wouldn’t work too well for what I wanted but to at least get the hero standing up again, they would do.  Then later I told her we were getting out of the bad guy business.  Needless to say she didn’t take it well and the emotions chip she had in her couldn’t take it.  I shut her down,” Robbie explained.

          “So what we have is an emotional android on the loose, looking for revenge.  I think she’s crossed that line.  She’s somewhere in between human and android,” Pixel said.

          “Yes and I don’t care what it takes but we have to stop her,” the former villain told them.

          “You may not like this but the only way to stop her is to “kill” her and by that I mean, make sure she’s in a thousand pieces,” Amanda spoke up.

          “You’re probably right.  I shut her down once and she obviously overrode it,” Robbie shrugged.

          “That’s all fine and dandy but how do you expect to catch her?  She could have altered her appearance by now, found a new place to hide, and be in the middle of plotting to kill Pinky,” Trixie said.

          “My theory is that we can use my scanner to find her but I’ll need to amplify the signal somehow in order to scan the town.  I’ll also need a larger memory capacity to expand on the algorithms,” the purple suited man explained.

          “We’re on it,” Pixel and Amanda said together.

          “Great.  Now all we need is some way to “mow the lawn” as it were,” Robbie said.

          “We have an airship,” Sportacus reminded them.

          “Yes and no.  I think Rottenella would get suspicious if she saw the airship making patterns over the town,” Stingy pointed out.

          “Yes this is true,” Robbie nodded.

          “How big do we want to go?”  Pixel asked.

          “Can we hack into the traffic cameras and use them?”  The former villain wondered.

          “Yes but they are limited to the streets and their cameras wouldn’t penetrate buildings,” Amanda said.

          “What about a satellite?”  Stephanie wondered.

          “It would only pass over the town once a day.  Not only that from that distance a scan probably wouldn’t work but I like your thinking,” Robbie smiled.

          “Well while you guys plot it out, I think the police should be brought up to date and a public alert issued,” Sportacus said.

          “He’s right.  She could be on top of us and we’d never know it,” Pixel nodded.

          “You think she’ll try to strike so quickly despite the obvious failure of her first attempt?”  Stephanie asked.

          “No but as much as no one is going to want to hear this, I think the safest place for Stephanie is right here.  Rottenella wants me to suffer and if Pinky is here, she can’t kill her because she’ll end up killing me.  Plus she knows I have security cameras and a fail-safe program.  The minute she steps foot inside this place, I’ll detonate an EMP.  It will effectively fry her and it would allow me to destroy her,” Robbie told them.

          “So you stay here and be safe, as odd as that sounds.  I’ll head over and give a description of our bomber,” Sportacus leaned down and kissed the pink one.

          “I’ll do what I can,” she smiled.

          “Trixie, Stingy, you’re with me.  We need to alert Ziggy,” the hero said.  The two nodded and said their good-byes before heading out of the underground lair.


	7. Chapter 7

While the team tried to figure out how to scan for their foe, Rottenella hid in an old abandoned shopping plaza on the other side of town.  The plaza had been deemed unsafe after a soil sample was taken and it was discovered that the swamp that it had been built on was contaminated by years of toxic dumping.  Needless to say everyone avoiding the place like the plague and it made an excellent hiding place.

          Sportacus had had an idea and now headed toward the very place where the emotion chip challenged android hid.  He had left Trixie and Stingy to get Ziggy while he promised to check in with the police.  Talking to the Chief had taken all of five minutes and now he went to the one place he figured someone immune to the toxins would hide.

          “Just where do you think you’re going?”  Sam asked as he caught up to the hero.

          “Getting some fresh air to clear my head,” Sportacus smiled.

          “We have to work on your lying.  Nobody gets fresh air from the direction you’re heading,” the former soldier shook his head.

          “All right.  I’m heading to the one place no one would go.  I figured what better hiding place could there be?  I’m half metal so…” the hero trailed off.

          “Then if all you need is some metal, I’m coming with,” Sam said, knocking his fist on his leg.

          “Did the Chief ask you to follow me?”  Sportacus wanted to know.

          “Nope.  I got off shift and thought it might be a good idea.  After all I didn’t like the look on Dooright’s face,” his friend said.

          “All right then.  We’d best get a move on before the sun goes down,” the hero nodded.  The two walked in relative silence for a few moments before the hero said,

          “How do you…” he paused and Sam looked at him.

          “What’s on your mind?  I can see the gears turning,” the policeman inquired.  Sportacus heaved a sigh before continuing with his question,

          “Stephanie and I are close.  We almost always have been but since getting my legs, we haven’t been close.  If you know what I mean.”

          “I’m beginning to,” Sam said.

          “We talk and we joke but it feels as though the fact her Uncle was just in the other room, wasn’t the only reason we weren’t…” he trailed off.

          “I got you.  Not sure of how to go about it or just concerned that there’s a bigger underlying issue?”  The former Marine asked.

          “Both probably,” Sportacus admitted.

          “Ah.  Well this sounds like we need to get some beers and sit down and chat.  When this whole mess blows over, that is,” Sam told him.

          “Sounds good,” the hero nodded.

          “So is what she said true?”  Sam wanted to know.

          “What did she say?”  Sportacus asked as they approached the outside of the mall.  He never got an answer to his question as Sam pointed out that the chain-link fence had been tampered with.  They both immediately fell silent and the former Marine pulled out his off-duty weapon and pulled another one out and handed it to Sportacus.  He’d never fired a weapon in his life and he was about to protest when suddenly the mall exploded in a ball of flame knocking them back onto the pavement.


	8. Chapter 8

“What the hell were you two thinking?  That toxic dump could have had a massive reaction and set off something like a small atomic explosion,” Chief Dooright stalked in front of the two amputees who were sitting inside the hospital containment area.  Neither one of them had any major injuries but they were forced to go through a containment scrub and were now quarantined until it could be verified that the toxins from the dump hadn’t given them some sort of disease.

          “We didn’t set it off,” Sam said.

          “I had a hunch and went there, figuring that it would be a good place to hide,” Sportacus told him.

          “So you figured you wouldn’t go down there with some sort of protective gear?”  The Chief asked.

          “I was just going to poke around.  I didn’t plan on getting myself in this mess,” the above average hero pointed out.

          “Sportacus!”  The familiar voice of Stephanie made them terminate their conversation.  She ran up to the window with the speaking device and asked,

          “What were you doing?  Are you hurt?  What happened?”

          “One question at a time Pinky,” Robbie, who was huffing and puffing, said as he finally reached the pink one and the Chief.

          “As I was discussing with the Chief, Sam and I were just checking the place out and it went up.  Something must have ignited the fumes or something,” Sportacus said.

          “When can you get out of here?”  She wanted to know.

          “It’s going to take a couple of days to get the results from our blood work from the CDC,” Sam explained.

          “Well despite the stupidity of your actions, I’m glad that you both seem to be ok,” Stephanie smiled.

          “Us too and you can believe the Chief let us know how dumb it was, trust me,” Sportacus smiled.

          “Good.  Now Chief Dooright have your men found anything in the rubble?”  Robbie wanted to know.

          “Nothing yet.  With any luck it was just something that was bound to happen but why do I get the feeling you all think differently?”  Dooright was suspicious of the question.

          “As I explained before, rogue android,” the above average hero said.

          “You weren’t supposed to tell them that part!”  Robbie got angry.

          “Sorry, as Sam pointed out, I’m a terrible liar,” Sportacus shrugged.

          “And why weren’t you going to tell me?”  Chief Dooright turned to the former villain.

          “Because you’d think I was making it up,” the purple suited man pointed out.

          “Touché,” the police Chief nodded before continuing, “I want the whole story right now.  I don’t want my men at the site falling into anything.”  Robbie nodded and quickly brought him up to speed.

          “You don’t think she went up in the explosion?”  The Chief asked when he knew as much as they did.

          “No, I do not.  I think it was meant to be a distraction.  I think we have to pretend that it wasn’t and keep everyone on high alert,” Robbie said.  Dooright nodded and pulled out his phone.

          Meanwhile, from a safe distance, Rottenella watched the crime scene unit comb through the wreckage.  It would take them a very long time to dig through it all and she knew that it wouldn’t be fast enough before her next attack would occur.  Slinking off into the darkness, she headed for the center of town.


	9. Chapter 9

“So you really think that Robbie is telling the truth?”  Ziggy asked as he, Trixie, and Stingy walked through the center of town on their way to the meeting that Chief Dooright had called at the police station.

          “Despite everything that has happened, I honestly think Robbie wouldn’t be that stupid to try to do something like that.  He knows the minute something bad happens in town everyone will be looking for him,” Trixie shrugged her shoulders.

          “That’s not what he’s asking,” Stingy pointed out before continuing, “I think he’s different.  Something changed him and I think he’s telling the truth.”  Ziggy nodded and watched the hustle and bustle of people around them.  That’s when he spotted something out of the ordinary.

          “Does that lady look off to you?”  The hero asked nonchalantly, using his eyes to point out the woman who headed toward the fountain in the roundabout that cars drove around.  People walked around the sidewalk that encircled the fountain, it wasn’t that that made her seem strange.  It was the fact that her trimmed close black hair seemed to have smudged on her face and it looked like she was wearing a lot of makeup.  Then there was the backpack she was carrying and the fact that she was continually looking around.

          “Well she is jay-walking and that can be dangerous.  Why don’t you see if she needs help?”  Trixie suggested.

          “And if she is a problem?”  Ziggy wanted to know.

          “Stingy and I will head the other way and we’ll surround her,” the prankster said.  He nodded and casually stepped into the cross-walk as the car at the yield sign stopped to let him pass.  He smiled and waved and quickly crossed to the fountain.  Trixie and Stingy walked a little further down the far sidewalk before crossing in a separate crosswalk.

          “Hello ma’am.  Is everything all right?”  Ziggy approached her, smiling.

          “Why would you ask?”  She wanted to know, her tone seemed cautious.

          “Well you jay-walked back there and you seem to be unsure of where you are going.  This intersection can be dangerous and if you need help, that’s what I’m here for,” the hero never stopped smiling.

          “Actually I do need help,” she said.

          “Great, then I’m glad I was here.  Where do you need to be?”  Ziggy asked.

          “Oh I’m where I need to be I just need you to hold still for a minute,” the woman smiled and Ziggy got a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as the woman took off the backpack and handed it to him.  It felt very heavy and he joked,

          “Do you have bricks in here or something?”

          “Of a sort.  Make sure you don’t drop that bag,” she smiled as she whipped out a nine-millimeter pistol and shot Trixie as she rounded the fountain.  Trixie cried out as the bullet ripped through her shoulder and she fell down.  Stingy rushed to her side and a bullet went through his thigh.  He let out a howl before falling to the ground gripping his bleeding leg.  By now the traffic going around the circle took notice of the gunshots and most slammed on the brakes unsure of what to do, some abandoning their cars.  Pedestrians raced away screaming that there was a crazy woman at the fountain.  Sirens sounded in the distance and the woman turned to Ziggy, who stood there in shock as she pointed the weapon at his forehead.

          “Do me a favor and put the backpack on like a good little boy,” she said and Ziggy quickly did as he was told.

          “Now back up into the fountain,” she ordered and he carefully did so until he was almost shin-deep in the water.  The sirens got closer and she smirked.

          “What are you doing?”  Ziggy finally found the ability to speak.

          “All in good time now stand still and shut up or we’ll have a big mess on our hands,” she said.  He nodded and watched as officers arrived and emptied all the cars that hadn’t already been abandoned by their drivers.

          “Any closer and I kill him and everyone here within a three block radius!”  She shouted and the officers quickly backed off, telling people stuck in cars to stay low.

          “What do you want?”  An officer asked over the megaphone.

          “I want Robbie, Stephanie, and Sportacus here now or I push this button and we all die!”  She shouted producing a trigger for the bomb in the backpack.

          “We’ll do what we can but you have to give us some time,” he responded.  To that she responded by shooting Ziggy in the leg.  The young man knew if he fell that everyone would die and he tried to steady himself without falling.

          “You’d better hurry up!”  She shouted.


	10. Chapter 10

 “What’s all the commotion?”  Chief Dooright asked as a patrolman rushed into his office.

          “There’s a woman holding Ziggy, Trixie, and Stingy, and an untold number of citizens hostage in the center of town!  She says if Robbie, Sportacus, and Stephanie aren’t there soon, she’s detonating a bomb strapped to Ziggy’s back!”  He explained.

          “Sweet Mother!  She must be our bomber!  I’ll head down there and try to reason with her.  You and some men get over to FunTown Hospital and get Sportacus released from the quarantine,” the Chief ordered.

          “And if he’s contagious?”  The patrolman asked.

          “Pray to God he isn’t,” the Chief said, knowing that the hospital would think of something to get the hero prepared for the outside world.  The young officer in front of him nodded and took off running through the precinct.  Quickly the Chief got into his car and rushed down to the scene.

          “You’re stalling!”  The woman shouted, still pointing the weapon at Ziggy’s head.

          “Sportacus is at FunTown Hospital.  He’s been exposed to toxic chemicals.  We’re trying to get the hospital to release him,” one of the officer’s explained, hoping that she’d understand.  She didn’t and proceeded to shoot Ziggy in the arm opposite his left leg.

          “Any more lies and everybody dies!”  She screamed.

          “What do we do?!”  One of the officers wanted to know, losing his cool.  One of his fellow officers smacked in the back of the head and said,

“Pull yourself together, man!”  As they squabbled the SWAT team and Chief Dooright pulled up onto the scene.

          “How bad is it?”  The Chief asked.

          “Really bad, sir.  Ziggy has been hit twice and she thinks we’re lying to her.  She said anyone lying to her is going to get us all killed,” the officer in charge, Sergeant O’Leary, told him.

          “Anybody know the condition of Trixie and Stingy?”  He asked.

          “One wound each but other than that we can’t tell much,” O’Leary explained.  The Chief nodded and grabbed the megaphone from one of the SWAT team.

          “My name is Chief Dooright and I’m here to help you get what you want but we need a sign of good faith.  Why don’t you let the people in their cars go?”  He asked.

          “You’re stalling again.  I already told you what happens if you stall,” she stepped a little closer to Ziggy and now the barrel of the gun was pressed into his forehead.

          “Stephanie, Sportacus, and Robbie are on their way from FunTown but it will take a little while.  Just let the people in their cars go and we can all breathe a little easier,” Dooright said.

          “All right.  I guess I can do that.  No officers any closer than they are right now,” she said before shouting at Trixie, who had crawled over to Stingy,

          “You with the pigtails!  Get up!”  Slowly Trixie did so, still holding her shoulder.

          “Go to the cars and make sure everyone is out of them or I shoot you again,” the woman ordered.  Trixie moved as quickly as she could, checking the six cars that were close to the fountain.  Four people scurried behind the police line and Trixie headed back toward the crazy woman.

          “That’s close enough,” she said before pumping a bullet into Trixie’s gut.  The girl screamed and fell down.  Stingy screamed out for her and tried to crawl toward her but the woman saw this and shot him in the other leg.

          “You can both bleed to death right there,” she smirked.  By now Ziggy was incredibly angry and he made a move to head toward the woman but she wheeled around and once again he found the gun pointing at his head.

          “Oh no my little friend.  You and I have places to be and people to kill,” she said.

          “That was not part of the bargain!  Let us get them to the hospital!”  Dooright shouted over.

          “Anyone crossing that line, who isn’t Robbie, Sportacus, or Stephanie, dies.  You got that?”  She asked pulling out another nine-millimeter handgun.

          “We get it!”  Dooright called back and turned to the SWAT team leader, Stephen James.

          “Does anyone have a clear shot at her?  The only way we end this is by blowing her head off,” the Chief said.

          “I have snipers looking for the solution.  How much longer until they get here?”  Stephen asked.

          “At least ten minutes,” Dooright shook his head.

          “We don’t have that long.  Trixie will be dead any minute now,” Stephen said.  He turned to his men and grabbed a bullet-proof shield.

          “What are you doing?”  The Chief wanted to know.

          “Saving her,” the SWAT team leader said.  Meanwhile, Robbie, Sportacus, and Stephanie were being rushed to the scene, unsure of what they would find or what exactly the crazy woman had in mind for them.


	11. Chapter 11

Chief Dooright knew that if Stephen crossed that line, they’d all be in trouble if the crazy woman was true to her word.  She did not look like the android that Robbie had described but he figured that she had to be given her bomb making knowledge and the fact that she avoided the water in the fountain like it was the plague.  He moved toward the SWAT team leader and tried to stop him but he wasn’t fast enough.

          Stephen walked toward the established police line with his shield up looking for the nearest car to use as cover.  He looked over at Trixie and saw that she was barely moving.  He feared the worst and had no intention of letting her die.  Stingy was too close to the mad woman and he’d never get to him but at least he could save Trixie.

          Ducking behind the nearest car, he looked to see if she’d spotted him.  As luck would have it, Ziggy was distracting her with a heated argument he’d started.  Stephen couldn’t hear it all but he hoped that the young man kept her busy as he ducked to the next car.  He was close now and could see that the young woman was struggling to breathe.  That’s when the crazy woman turned away from Ziggy.

          She scanned the scene before her as if she’d seen him.  He held his breath but nothing happened and he cautiously peeked under the vehicle.  She was no longer distracted by Ziggy.  He must have lost the argument and she was now ignoring him.  Stephen checked his watch.  What had seemed like an eternity had actually only been three minutes.  Stephanie, Sportacus, and Robbie were at least still seven minutes out.  Just then, his earwig crackled to life and he was glad only he could hear it.

          “I have the solution.  Am waiting for orders,” the familiar voice of his best sniper, Marty Johnson, came into his ear.

          “Take the shot,” Stephen whispered, hoping to God his voice wasn’t as loud as it sounded.  Within an instant, the shot was fired because it scored a direct hit.  The android’s head exploded into millions of little pieces.  He needed no more incentive and Stephen rushed to Trixie.  He scooped her up and headed back to the police line, leaving is shield behind.

          “Stingy!  We gotta go!”  Ziggy shouted to him.

          “I can’t move!”  His friend shouted back.  Without even thinking, Ziggy went to his friend and tried to help him up as the SWAT team moved toward them, their shields raised.

          “We’ve got him son but you have to stay here,” one of the policemen said.

          “What?”  Ziggy asked.  He was beginning to tire from the pain and loss of blood.

          “You still have a bomb strapped to you and we have no way of knowing what is inside that backpack,” the policeman told him.

          “Where’s the Bomb Squad?”  The young hero asked.

          “I’m right here.  Don’t you worry son,” the policeman promised him as the rest of his team took Stingy away for medical treatment.

          “I just want to go home,” Ziggy admitted.

          “I know you do.  I’m going to stay with you, ok?  Don’t worry Ziggycus.  You did great today,” the policeman smiled as the bomb squad investigated the trigger, frozen in the android’s hand.

          “I got my friend’s shot and put people in danger.  How do you figure I did great?”  Ziggy asked, not in a snippy tone but the officer could tell that fear was nipping at him.

          “You charged in and got her to hand you the backpack didn’t you?  Sportacus would have done the same thing.  He’d have taken one for the team if need be and by putting that backpack on you did just that,” the man continued to smile.

          “All right Ziggycus, we’re going to cut the backpack off of you ok?  She didn’t wire anything around you right?  She just made you put it on correct?”  The man in the bomb suit asked.

          “Right but then she just pulled out that remote and…”

          “It’s ok.  It was a remote detonator.  I’m going to cut the backpack off and you’re going to run like hell with Officer Mike here ok?”  The bomb squad officer told him.

          “Yes, sir,” Ziggy nodded.

          “Good,” the man in the bomb suit smiled and took a look at the straps of the backpack.  The zipper was probably booby-trapped and he didn’t even want to try it with Ziggy still attached.  Carefully with shears, the man cut the straps and removed the backpack.

          “Run!”  He ordered and the two took off with the young hero leaning heavily on Officer Mike.  Just then Stephanie, Sportacus, and Robbie exited a FunTown squad car to see their friend get behind the police line.

          “How long has Rottenella been down?”  Robbie immediately asked.

          “I’m not sure, why?”  Dooright was confused by the question.

          “Get your guy out of there now!”  The former villain ordered.  Sportacus didn’t wait for an invitation and ran out to get the man who was trying to diffuse the backpack bomb.  The hero grabbed the man and the backpack fell into the fountain.  In a matter of moments, the bomb exploded in a large fireball when a secondary explosion sounded knocking everyone off their feet.


	12. Chapter 12

“Holy shit!”  The voice was unmistakably Robbie’s that first reached Stephanie’s ears, despite the ringing that seemed to vibrate throughout her head.  She slowly peeled herself up off the pavement and into a sitting position; blood trickled down her arm from the scrape on her elbow.  She tried to focus on the scene around her but she had hit her head fairly hard on the pavement and now the world spun.  She tried to keep the food in her stomach down as she called out,

          “Sportacus!”  It was a bad move as she couldn’t keep it together anymore and violently threw up as she quickly leaned over to the side. 

Around her everyone was picking themselves up and being checked for injuries.  The ambulances had already whisked Trixie and Stingy away but more were on their way as the sounds of sirens filled the air.  Water shot up from the ground where the fountain used to be and what little remained of Rottenella was slowly washed away.  Chief Dooright called the town’s water authority and they shut down the water heading toward the fountain.  Next the area was swept for anything for evidential value before the water ruined whatever there was.

“Sportacus!”  The call came again and this time Stephanie managed to keep the bile from her stomach down.  Her vision was a little fuzzy and at first she could not figure out who was coming her way but she soon discovered it was not the above average hero.

“Come on Pinky.  You need a doctor,” Robbie said, carefully scooping her up off the pavement.

“Where is Sportacus?”  She asked him.  

“I don’t know but I’m sure he got far enough away,” the former villain told her as he made his way over to the nearest ambulance.

“I’m not going anywhere until I know where he is,” she raised the tone of her voice which was a mistake and quickly Robbie turned her head before she vomited again.

“You have a nasty concussion and a gash on the back of your head.  You’re going to the hospital.  I’ll find Sportakook,” the purple wearing man promised.  Finally she gave in as he handed her over to the EMTs and then he disappeared into the crowd.

“Robbie, what the hell was that?”  Chief Dooright stopped him in his tracks before he’d gotten too far.

“I’ll explain but first, where is Sportacus?  Did he and the Bomb Squad guy make it ok?”  He wanted to know.

“Sportacus took a face-plant on the pavement and is scraped up.  Sergeant Gonzalez from the Bomb Squad was protected by his suit and suffered no major injuries.  Mostly bruises from being flung to the ground from the explosion,” the Chief explained.

“That’s good to know.  Pinky had to go to the hospital.  Nasty gash on the back of her head and a concussion to go with,” Robbie told him.  Dooright shook his head and then asked,

“Why was there a second explosion?”

“Rottenella has a built-in self-destruct mechanism.  The moment she suffered permanent damage the countdown began.  It wasn’t a very long one and we’re incredibly lucky that Sportacus’ new legs held out,” the former villain explained.

“Is that the last we’ll see of her?”  The Chief hated to ask but he knew he had to despite the millions of pieces she’d been broken up into.

“I have a bad feeling about that,” Robbie said knowing full well if she had gotten the pieces to create the bombs, then she could have gotten the pieces to build a crude stand-in.

“Why do I think that bad feeling isn’t going to go away anytime soon?”  Dooright muttered as he grabbed the radio and made sure the alert for the crazy android remained in effect.


	13. Chapter 13

“So what’s next?”  Chief Dooright asked as he paced outside the quarantined area at the hospital.  The doctors had let the hero go save the day because he wasn’t showing symptoms of anything but now he was back in quarantine, along with Sam and Sergeant Gonzalez.  The oxygen mask that the hospital had used as a precautionary device on Sportacus had been severely damaged when the hero face-planted and the doctors now feared that the Bomb Squad Sergeant could be infected.

          “Until I can get out of here, Robbie is running the show,” Sportacus said.

          “I don’t have to tell you how uncomfortable with that, I am,” the Chief told him.

          “You and me both but with Ziggy, Trixie, Stingy, and Stephanie, out of the game that only leaves Robbie, Pixel, and Amanda.  Now Pixel and Amanda are great with this kind of stuff but Robbie built her.  He’ll know what she’ll try next,” the hero pointed out.

          “We are incredibly lucky that no one died.  As it is, Trixie and Stingy are still in surgery.  But to trust the man who created this runaway abomination…” Dooright started but was cut off by Robbie himself.

          “Trust is a two way street gentlemen,”

          “Absolutely it is.  How is Stephanie?”  Sportacus asked; kind of dodging his obvious insecurities.

          “She keeps asking for you.  I guess she bashed her head pretty good.  Stitches and pain meds for her with a few nights here at the hospital.  I’ve got guards on her room in case Rottenella has any crazy ideas,” Robbie told him.

          “I don’t know about you guys but I saw that thing go off.  How is it possible that this Rottenella is still around?”  Sergeant Gonzalez wanted to know.

          “If she was able to create those high grade explosives, she made another crude version of herself.  It wouldn’t be hard.  All she’d have to do is steal parts from the Lair and build one.  I gave Poodle and Amanda a count of my inventory and they are checking things over right now,” the purple wearing former villain explained.

          “Have they come up with any way to scan for her?”  Sam asked.

          “No but now that there was that massive explosion, we could probably use the airship.  I mean, she quit being subtle, why can’t we?”  Robbie shrugged.

          “Good point.  I’ll get my men on it,” Dooright nodded.

          “Excellent idea.  I’m glad we did that training program after I got injured,” Sportacus smiled slightly.  He had taken it upon himself to not only teach Ziggy how to fly the airship but also some policemen who had formerly served in the Air Force, as he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get back into the old girl ever again.  Pixel was busying reprogramming the settings so buttons and panels that he would normally hit with his feet did not take as much pressure to activate so that he could fly again but it was taking longer than expected.

          “I’m glad we did too.  Any places we should check in particular, Robbie?”  The Chief asked.

          “Hardware stores.  If she intends to make another bomb, that’s where she’ll be,” the former villain said.

          “All righty.  I’ll have the men sweep them first,” Dooright nodded.

          “Meanwhile, I’ll go back and check on Pixel and Amanda.  I have an idea that just might work,” the look in Robbie’s eyes made them all nervous but no one said anything as he and the Chief left the room.


	14. Chapter 14

“I have a plan but I’m going to need your help,” Robbie said as he paced about the Lair’s kitchen. 

          “I’ll call Amanda up and let her know that we’ll be here a little while longer,” Pixel nodded and quickly put in the call.  Amanda had gone to feed Roxie and now it was just Pixel and the villain eating cake while they discussed their next plan of attack.

          “She says she’ll bring the caffeine.  We need anything else?”  The Gizmo Guy wanted to know.

          “Tell her to bring poochy with her.  I wasn’t joking about needing his nose,” Robbie smirked slightly.  Pixel quickly told her to bring Ransom with her.  When he got off the phone, he turned to Robbie and said,

          “What are we going to do with that dog?  My wife loves him very much.  I love him very much and Roxie thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread.”

          “Nothing bad I can assure you.  He might be the best way to track Rottenella down,” the former villain told him.

          “You’ll have to explain because our best friends are in the hospital and there can’t be time for games,” Pixel warned.

          “Oh there is always time for games, especially when you’re playing capture the psychopath,” with that odd comment, Robbie walked out into the main room of the Lair and began punching buttons on the computer.  Pixel quickly followed and said,

          “We know that Rottenella made a cheap replica of herself but I’m not sure how using Ransom’s nose gets us anywhere.  She won’t leave a scent for him to follow.”

          “Androids and robots don’t leave a scent but what we need is one that does.  If it acts like a human, smells like a human, and looks like a human then it must be…” Robbie left the sentence hang there and Pixel picked up what he meant.

          “You want to make an android that could be used as a decoy to draw out Rottenella?”

          “On the nosey.  Ransom’s nose is so powerful that the smell of plastic would not be able to hide from him.  So if we can take the next evolutionary step and get an android to look like Stephanie and get it so that Ransom couldn’t tell the difference, neither would Rottenella,” Robbie explained.

          “Then what?  We put the decoy out there and hope that Rottenella tries to ‘kill’ Stephanie?”  The Gizmo Guy wondered.

          “Yes or we can get the fake Stephanie to take her out.  Ransom is trained to open doors, turn on the lights, and fetch the car keys right?”  The purple wearing man asked.

          “Yes.  He can even fetch a Pepsi from the fridge.  Where is this going?”  Pixel didn’t like where the conversation was going.

          “I think it might be time for Stephanie to take him for a walk.  After all, Rottenella doesn’t know that Stephanie is in the hospital.  And who could she be safer with than a trained dog like Ransom?”  Robbie pointed out.

          “He would complete the illusion but aren’t we putting too many horses before the cart?  I mean unless you’ve got a program written for this android, it would take too long to figure out before Rottenella gets restless.  For all we know, she could be planting her next bomb as we speak,” Pixel said.

          “I doubt it.  LazyTown is crawling with cops.  She’s smart enough to know when to lay low.  Besides when the police conveniently call off the search on account of darkness, Stephanie will make her debut,” Robbie then stopped punching the buttons on the keyboard and in one of his tubes, that used to house his disguises, popped up a full size android.

          “You’ve been busy,” Pixel said as they could hear the bark of Ransom outside.

          “Let them in.  We’ve got four hours to get in gear,” Robbie told him.


	15. Chapter 15

Robbie, Pixel, and Amanda watched anxiously from the safety of the Lair as the fake Stephanie strolled down the sidewalk, Ransom pulling along the way.  He had his nose to the ground and had obviously caught onto the scent of something. Amanda explained that the chocolate Lab was hyper vigilant at night due to her problems with nightmares.

          “You think she’ll take the bait?”  Pixel asked.

          “The dog could be a hindrance.  He would know that she wasn’t a human and might bite her.  However without the dog, she would never believe that Stephanie would be all by herself,” Robbie shook his head.

          “I swear on a stack of keyboards if anything happens to Ransom…” Amanda indicated her point by punching her right fist into her open left palm.

          “I know!  I know!”  The former villain promised.

          “Hey guys it looks like she took the bait,” Pixel said as he pointed to the screen.  There the three of them could see the two being approached by a woman who looked like Rottenella.

          “Turn on the microphone hidden in the button on her sweater,” Robbie told him.  Quickly Pixel punched in the command and they soon could hear everything that was being said.

          “Going for a late night stroll?”  Rottenella asked.

          “Ransom needed a walk and I promised my friend I’d take him,” Stephanie said.  To this Ransom suddenly growled.  His nose had picked up the “scent” of the android. 

          “My, he has big teeth,” the original android commented.

          “He likes to bite people who do bad things,” the fake Stephanie smirked.

          “Does he now?”  Rottenella raised an eyebrow and Ransom started to bark.  This was the signal for the police to move in and they slowly crept out of their hiding spots.

          “That’s your last warning.  Afraid the next move will be for him to attack,” the pink android was cool as ice.

          “He’s not going to have much of a chance if I shoot him first,” Rottenella pulled out another nine millimeter handgun.  It was at this point that Amanda grabbed Robbie’s shirt.

          “I don’t think so,” the SWAT team leader, Stephen James, said.  His weapons pointed right at the android’s head.  It was then that the rest of the team made their appearance surrounding the android.  One of the men whistled and Ransom took off for him.

          “Now drop the weapon and put your hands on your head,” James told her.

          “Why would I do that?”  Rottenella asked.

          “Well for starters you’re a criminal and if you don’t do as I say, I will shoot you.  Despite being made out of metal and plastic I have a feeling you’d prefer to be alive than shot full of holes,” the SWAT team leader said.

          “Perhaps as my mission isn’t complete,” the android leveled the gun at ‘Stephanie’s’ head before continuing, “then again I could complete it right here.  Her brave Sportacus isn’t around to save her now.”

          “Do it and you’re dead.  We know about your little self-destruct mechanism and came prepared just for the situation,” James said.  Despite this, Rottenella pulled the trigger.  Parts of the fake Stephanie’s head went everywhere.  It was then that she realized her mistake but it was too late.  One of the SWAT team fired his EMP gun and fried the circuits in her for the next thirty minutes which also shut down the self-destruct.

          “They got her!”  Robbie smiled.  He was incredibly happy that it was over.  Quickly the police scooped up Rottenella and began working to remove the self-destruct explosives.  Once that was done, it was turned over to the bomb squad to detonate somewhere far away.  Then the officers scooped up the pieces of the fake Stephanie and headed over to Robbie’s to hand her and Ransom over.


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning LazyTown awoke to hear the news of Rottenella’s capture.  Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and life soon began to resume a sense of normalcy.  The former Mayor and Bessie were released from protective custody.  Chief Dooright offered to put them up at his house while their home was being rebuilt.  Milford gratefully accepted and that’s when the Chief revealed that there had been a collection to replace the items lost in the explosion.  His garage was full of clothes, personal hygiene items, and food.  A local contractor offered to rebuild the home that was lost for free and donations from companies started pouring in and even the Mayor of FunTown donated to the cause.

          Ziggy was released from the hospital a few days later and he headed back to his folks place to recover.  Both Trixie and Stingy survived their wounds and were released a week after Ziggy.  All three were grateful to their rescuers and threw a large party the day Sportacus, Sam, and Sergeant Gonzalez were released from the hospital.  Stephanie was released the same day due to the fact that the nurses kept shuffling her around so she could stay near Sportacus.  The hero would need to take up his duties with Ziggy out of commission for a few weeks and the two spent a lot of time discussing their plans for the future.

          Now with the party in full swing at the fire hall, Sportacus, with Stephanie in tow, stepped up to the front of the room and tapped on the podium’s microphone.

          “Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you so much for coming today.  I’m very glad that we can celebrate not only the freedom achieved by Robbie, Amanda, and Pixel along with the help of the LazyTown SWAT team but also the lives saved due to all the emergency personnel involved in the water fountain bombing.”  There was a big round of applause before he continued.

          “As you all know, Ziggy’s leg and arm are going to be in casts for a while and that leaves no one to man the airship twenty-four/seven.  If you’ll have me, I want to try to be the man I used to be,” the hero said.

          “You never stopped being our hero!”  Someone shouted from the far end of the room.  To which most of the audience smiled and nodded with some “yeahs” thrown in for encouragement.

          “You’ll always be my hero,” Stephanie said as she pulled him in for a kiss.  It was the first one they’d shared since the CDC cleared them.  Trixie initiated the cat calls and soon the pink haired one’s skin was almost the same color as her hair.

          “To that end,” Sportacus said after separating from his girlfriend, “thank you one and all for today.  It means a lot.”

          “When are you going to make an honest man of him?”  Trixie shouted at Stephanie which again caused the pink one to blush.  She had never been able to control her blushing when someone talked about Sportacus.  And that’s when she felt he tug on her hand as she tried to leave the front of the room.   She turned and watched as the hero got down on one knee.  It wasn’t easy for him and he winced a little but he smiled the whole time.

          “Stephanie…” he didn’t even get the words out and she got down on her knees and pulled him close.  Again they found their mouths occupying one another’s.

          “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” Amanda chuckled.  Pixel laughed and pulled her in for a kiss while Ransom barked.

          “All righty!  Enough mushy stuff!  Let’s party!”  Robbie shouted.

          “I still can’t believe I’m saying this but he’s right!  Party!”  Chief Dooright said.  The music was turned back up and everyone got to dancing, eating, and having a good time.


	17. Epilogue

“You have five minutes,” the guard on the cell block said to Robbie as he nodded and walked down to the cell where the police were holding Rottenella.

          “They said you wanted to see me,” the former villain said to the android.

          “I do.  Seems as though they are not allowing me a trial by jury of my peers.  I’m in limbo until the judge decides what to do with me,” she told him.

          “And this is my problem because…” he waited to hear why exactly he was down there.

          “You caused this mess!  And now you throw me away like garbage?”  She asked.

          “I did nothing of the sort.  I shut you down.  I’ve changed my life and I had every intention of changing yours but now… I can’t do it.  Legally the judge may decide for you to be terminated.  Or he may turn the decision over to me.  Either way, you’ll find that the good people of LazyTown do not take kindly to people trying to kill the best Mayor this place has ever seen.  You will pay for what you’ve done and I will make sure you can’t come back from it,” Robbie said.  Rottenella looked at him and could tell he meant what he said.

          “Then go.  Leave me to rot,” she told him.  He said nothing and headed back up toward the guard station.

          “You keep an eye on her ok?  I have a bad feeling about the next time she’s due for court,” Robbie told the guard.

          “You got it.  You know I’m no lawyer but there really isn’t a law about androids/robots attempting murder.  I mean legally the judge may have to let her go,” the guard said.

          “A scary thought that I pray does not happen.  Worst case scenario, she is my property and I will do what is necessary to end this,” the former villain heaved a sigh and left.

**The End**


End file.
